THEIR FINEST
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In the darkest hours of World War II, the British Home Office turned to an unlikely saviour, cinema.
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In a pre-internet, pre-TV world, propaganda was best managed through the local theatre; Hollywood had been doing it for years, even sending cartoon stars like Donald Duck to do his bit for the war effort.
Back in London, unlikely heroine Catrin Cole (the extremely likeable Gemma Arterton) is plucked from obscurity to write ‘slop’, women’s lines, for an upcoming feature about the might of the British people against the despicable Germans on D-Day. Working alongside the charming Sam Claflin, her creative spirit inevitably upsets the status quo as egos clash on political, professional and gender lines while their ‘war on war’ gathers momentum.
Based on Lissa Evans popular novel Their Finest Hour And a Half, Their Finest gains further traction with the casting of a pitch-perfect Bill Nighy, a fading star outraged that he’s been cast as a hopeless drunk and not the hero. Throw in the comedic value of a fatally wooden yet handsome American (cast solely for the Yankee market) and Lone Scherfig’s comedy-drama builds a fine head of steam.
With similarly astute romantic dramas like An Education and One Day to her credit, Scherfig is on form with this witty, insightful and effortlessly charming story whose internal themes of women’s pluck mirror that in a rapidly changing outside world. In many ways, Their Finest is exactly the sort of film that the Ministry Of Information is hoping their own movie will be: a rousing story that champions the best of people in the worst of times.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at Sony Theatre, Sydney, on 10 February 2017.
Back in London, unlikely heroine Catrin Cole (the extremely likeable Gemma Arterton) is plucked from obscurity to write ‘slop’, women’s lines, for an upcoming feature about the might of the British people against the despicable Germans on D-Day. Working alongside the charming Sam Claflin, her creative spirit inevitably upsets the status quo as egos clash on political, professional and gender lines while their ‘war on war’ gathers momentum.
Based on Lissa Evans popular novel Their Finest Hour And a Half, Their Finest gains further traction with the casting of a pitch-perfect Bill Nighy, a fading star outraged that he’s been cast as a hopeless drunk and not the hero. Throw in the comedic value of a fatally wooden yet handsome American (cast solely for the Yankee market) and Lone Scherfig’s comedy-drama builds a fine head of steam.
With similarly astute romantic dramas like An Education and One Day to her credit, Scherfig is on form with this witty, insightful and effortlessly charming story whose internal themes of women’s pluck mirror that in a rapidly changing outside world. In many ways, Their Finest is exactly the sort of film that the Ministry Of Information is hoping their own movie will be: a rousing story that champions the best of people in the worst of times.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at Sony Theatre, Sydney, on 10 February 2017.
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STARRING
Gemma Arterton
Sam Claflin
Bill Nighy
Richard E. Grant
DIRECTOR
Lone Scherfig
SCREENWRITER
Gaby Chiappe
COUNTRY
UK
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
117 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
April 20, 2017
Gemma Arterton
Sam Claflin
Bill Nighy
Richard E. Grant
DIRECTOR
Lone Scherfig
SCREENWRITER
Gaby Chiappe
COUNTRY
UK
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
117 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
April 20, 2017
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